Tobacco Control has morphed into a crusade intent on demonizing both tobacco users and the industry supplying them. This blog examines and comments on scientific issues surrounding tobacco policies - and fallacies.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Vaping in the U.K.

Comedian-cum-philosopher Stephen Colbert has opined, “Facts matter not at all.
Perception is everything.” Actual
British researchers have gone a step further, finding that, with e-cigarettes
and vaping, perception changes behavior.

British health authorities
have consistently told smokers the truth about vaping since 2011 (here, here, here and here), while
American officials, in their pursuit of a “tobacco-free society” or a “tobacco endgame,”
have emphasized the negative, or simply perpetuated untruths and urban myths.

Survey data in the U.K. and U.S.
demonstrate that truth-telling results in more accurate perceptions about
vaping than do obfuscation and scaremongering (here). Now, a survey from the U.K.’s Action on
Smoking and Health (ASH) (here) shows
that favorable perception translates into positive behavior.

In this case, facts do
matter. The U.K. vaping population has
ballooned, from 700,000 in 2012, to 2.9 million this year. Importantly, the majority (52%) are former
smokers – a sharp contrast to American data showing that most vapers are
current smokers (here).

Within these encouraging U.K.
figures are reasons for concern. First,
the prevalence of vaping is currently 5.8%, which is only a 12% increase since
2015. This suggests that e-cigarette use
may be leveling out. With some nine
million Brits smoking today (here), vaping
momentum will have to grow in order to drive down smoking.

A major barrier to the
success of e-cigarettes is misinformation (here). The ASH report documents that 22% of smokers
believe that e-cigarettes are more or equally harmful than cigarettes – a 9%
increase from four years ago. Anti-vaping
propaganda, discussed here, may be
a contributing factor. Interestingly,
16% of smokers who tried but don’t use e-cigs said they would try them again if
they were sure they were safe to use.

The ASH report also documents
that e-cigs don’t work for all smokers.
Of smokers who tried but no longer use e-cigarettes, 25% said the
devices didn’t feel like smoking, and 20% said they didn’t help with cravings. Smokers should be given access to a range of
safer smoke-free substitutes, including smokeless tobacco and heat-not-burn
products, in order to help them quit their deadly smoking habit.

My Credentials

I am a Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville, I hold an endowed chair in tobacco harm reduction research, and I am a member of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at U of L.

For the past 20 years I have been involved in research and policy development regarding tobacco harm reduction (THR). THR advocates acknowledge that there are millions of smokers who are unable or unwilling to quit with conventional cessation methods involving tobacco and nicotine abstinence, and we encourage them to use cigarette substitutes that are far safer.

My research has appeared in a broad range of medical and scientific journals. I have authored commentaries in the general press and I wrote the book, For Smokers Only: How Smokeless Tobacco Can Save Your Life. In 2003 I served as an expert witness at a Congressional hearing on tobacco harm reduction, and I have spoken at numerous international forums, including one held in London at the British Houses of Parliament.

My research is supported by unrestricted grants from tobacco manufacturers to the University of Louisville and by the Kentucky Research Challenge Trust Fund.